Title

Author

Defense Date

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Rosalie Corona

Abstract

This study examined whether cultural values and gender moderate the association between mother-adolescent communication about sex and adolescents’ sexual behavior/intention to engage in sex and condom use attitudes. One hundred and fifty Latino adolescents completed an anonymous survey that measured sexual health outcomes, mother-child communication, and cultural factors. In bivariate analyses, adolescents with a higher sense of familismo had a more positive attitude towards using condoms and more acculturated Latino adolescents were less likely to speak to their mothers about pre-coital or coital sexual topics. Females spoke more about sex with their mother, compared to males. Traditional gender roles moderated the relation between mother-adolescent communication about sex and condom use attitudes. Acculturation, familismo nor gender significantly moderated the relationship between communication about sex and sexual health outcomes. Further research should explore whether certain cultural factors influence parents to talk to their adolescent about specific topics related to sex.